re: 14 year old Ruston freshman in rough shape from heat stroke

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High in Ruston yesterday was 86

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This matters more than this:

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it was overcast most of the day

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It can be cloudy and with the humidity feel like a sauna. Also wet ground from rain evaporating makes it worse

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Louisiana HS football is entirely too early. We have perfect fall weather in October but everyone plays 6+ games before the nice temps

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uh it’s the same in all Deep South states and has been for all of my lifetime.

It’s only become a problem in today’s world of kids not acclimated to heat, diets largely of processed food, energy drinks and way too many soft drinks and not nearly enough actual water.. I was at 3 spring games this year temps were very comfortable mid 70s and in those 3 games I saw more kids cramping up and or throwing up than I would have in a season of ganes( which for me is usually 15-20) 15-20 years ago.

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High in Ruston yesterday was 86 and it was overcast most of the day. Something doesn't add up.

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It happened Monday. It was brutally hot that day.

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Ruston High freshman Lux Smith, 14, is in critical condition at Arkansas Children’s PICU in Little Rock — the state’s only Level 1 Pediatric Intensive Care Unit — after he collapsed at football practice on Monday around 11 a.m. due to a severe heat illness.

As of Friday morning, Smith was still asleep and on dialysis to support his kidneys and liver. His heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure have all improved but medical personnel continue to monitor his liver, according to social media updates from the family.

According to social media updates from the family, medical personnel "are primarily concerned about the status of his liver and if it will be able to heal at all considering the rest of his organs are on a support system of their own. The fragility of his situation makes him ineligible for a traditional liver transplant because of bleeding risk. It has to recover on its own."

Following his collapse Monday, Smith was rushed to Northern Louisiana Medical Center. He was unresponsive when he arrived, but luckily, medical personnel were able to stabilize him. From there, he was flown to St. Mary’s Medical Center in Shreveport where he was seen by a nephrologist before being flown to Little Rock.

A Go-Fund-Me campaign for the Smith family has already raised over $19,000 to cover the cost of medical expenses.

Attempts to reach Ruston High officials were unsuccessful on Thursday. The Leader will continue to provide updates on Smith’s condition.

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LINK

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And it's not even hot yet!

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When I left workouts that day it was 106 on my car thermometer. If they were on the turf or stadium it can get exponentially hotter.

A friend of mine's son just graduated from Ruston. From what he's heard, things aren't looking good for the young man. He said they aren't currently doing football drills, just weight room and some conditioning, but he said that day it wasn't particularly that hot outside. His son played there, and coaches constantly preach about drinking water the day before and staying hydrated. I don't know if there is an underlying condition or not, though.

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Our dumb arse coaches in high school “thought water was for the weak”… I was a teenager but knew back than they were full of shite… I hope this kid recovers

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How old are you because that mindset started vanishing fast in late 80s.

prior to then in was SOP

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and coaches constantly preach about drinking water the day before and staying hydrated.

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That's all coaches now - the problem is a lack of education / enforcement at home.

the electrolyte drinks are good for replacing electrolytes but the added sugars and sweeteners increase urination and actually inhibit hydration. Diet also plays a part.

Then there is the soft drink, energy drink and supplement factor and of course the real biggie - lack of heat acclimation for MOST of todays young athletes. Talking with 2 head trainers at SEC schools last year we discussed the impact they see from the above factors when their freshmen show up and those issues are very REAL impacts on athletes.

I see many teams wieghing kids before and after conditioning drills/practices and letting them know how much WATER to drink(saw this at a nazi like level from a team that was in CFP last year). Of course the shools doing it like this aren't just the ones good at sports they have the resources and staff to be good/great with everything that happens on their campuses - public and private.

Every year in June(now that I am older this year I switched to May) I start running 1 1/2 miles 4 days a week at 5:00pm which is usually hotter than noon to 3 pm. My neighbors alwasy ask why at that time - easy that's the temp and humidity at my first 4-5 games of the year.

Last update from the
Family was two days ago. I'm thinking if there was any good news to report they would have reported it.